stewmac

VK links for Torun v Krosno: https://vk.com/video-53550004_456241371 https://vk.com/video-81427162_456239550

Quarter Final details here:

Not sure but I am leading a group of around 60 to Wrocław next week. As part of that, especially for those who haven't been there before, I've created a document with a list of things to see and do around the city. If you haven't been before, or are interested in a copy of the document, PM me your email address and I'll happily forward it to you.

VK link for IMP: https://vk.com/video-53550004_456241367

VK links for SGP: https://vk.com/video-53550004_456241366 https://vk.com/video-81427162_456239549

I'll post VK links close to start time..

Draw: 1) Leon Madsen 2) Patryk Dudek 3) Max Fricke 4) Tai Woffinden 5) Maciej Janowski 6) Robert Lambert 7) Martin Vaculik 8) Mikkel Michelsen 9) Bartosz Zmarzlik 10) Jason Doyle 11) Jack Holder 12) Dan Bewley 13) Andrzej Lebedevs 14) Fredrik Lindgren 15) Anders Thomsen 16) Jacob Thorsell 17) Filip Hjelmland 18 Casper Henriksson

Lodz v Poznan, 09.07.23: https://vk.com/video-53550004_456241361

Swedish Final, Malilla, 27.06.23: https://youtube.com/watch?v=Fd1lpWAUQew&feature=share9

VK links for Gorzow v Czestochowa: https://vk.com/video-53550004_456241363 https://vk.com/video-81427162_456239546

VK links for Wrocław v Torun: https://vk.com/video-53550004_456241362 https://vk.com/video-81427162_456239545

Poland v Rest of the World, from Poznan, 08.07.23: (updated) https://youtube.com/watch?v=AMJDGoHhF30&feature=share9

There will be a VK link for Lodz v Poznan. I'll post it here shortly before start time: Sorry, it doesn't seem to be coming...

VK links for Leszno v Grudziadz: https://vk.com/video-81427162_456239544 https://vk.com/video-53550004_456241360

The team building rules are here: No.s 1-5 / 9-13 2 x Senior riders - Polish 2 x Senior riders - Any nationality 1 x U24 rider - Any nationality No.s 6-7 /14-15 2 x U21 riders - Polish No.8 /16 (optional) 1 x U23 rider - Any nationality

VK links for Krosno v Lublin: https://vk.com/video-53550004_456241359 https://vk.com/wall-53550004_106941 https://vk.com/wall-81427162_98160

He's announced as fit for Friday night and racing for Leszno against Grudziadz, so every chance he could make it if the Aussies decide to use him.

Sportowefakty has announced tonight that Chris Holder and Grzegorz Zengota are fit and will race in Friday night's meeting, so there will be no place for Adrian Miedzinski nor for Nazar Parnitskyi. Will be strange seeing a full strength Leszno in action again!

All rather embarrassing for the Swedes. Some unanswered questions nonetheless: 1) Was this the first time this equipment for checking had been used? 2) Was the machinery of any other riders checked, and if so, why didn't they show up as "non-regulatory"? 3) Given that it seems to have been a complete hoax, why did the Swedes announce it all publicly without checking things carefully first? 4) How will Kowalski move forward from this? As has been mentioned already, will other riders and tuners who lambasted him now all apologise, along with the Swedes themselves?

VK links for Czestochowa v Wrocław https://vk.com/video-53550004_456241356 https://vk.com/wall-53550004_105751 https://vk.com/video-81427162_456239542

VK links coming for Grudziadz v Krosno: https://vk.com/wall-53550004_105117 https://vk.com/video-53550004_456241355 https://vk.com/video-81427162_456239541

VK links here for Lublin v Gorzow: https://vk.com/video-81427162_456239540 https://vk.com/video-53550004_456241354

As far as I can see, the problem with the series is two-fold: 1) The current crop of riders are clearly not the top 16 in the world. If we accept, as few would surely argue against, that the Polish Ekstraliga is the strongest league worldwide, then I'd say a far stronger GP series would be possible if we took the top 12 from the end of season averages for the following year. Then, use the remaining 4 places to add any super new talents who emerge during the course of the following year, and also nominate locally great assets/wildcards on an ongoing basis to the series. With absolutely no disrespect to the current riders there, I can name at least half a dozen, as I'm sure we all could, who are clearly simply not good enough to be there currently. 2) Tracks and venues. Too many of the current tracks have no place in the GP series. If you accept that the whole point of speedway is to produce entertainment, then using venues that are built specifically for one-off meetings is clearly working against this principal, as on the whole, even after 20 odd years, they cannot be made good enough to guarantee consistently good surfaces and racing. Tied into that is the use of the current GP prep team, who appear to instruct local tracks how to prepare their tracks when they come visiting once a year. How can these guys possibly know as much about any given track as the ones who toil week in and week out to prepare their surfaces? That's nonsense and has to be changed. I'd scrap one off tracks all round. I'd also get shot of the ideas that we are somehow going to expand the series worldwide. Let's be realistic here. Speedway is a declining sport in every nation it's raced in worldwide. Hoping to attract massive crowds into new, untried markets is not just totally unrealistic, it is in fact crazy business sense. It simply will not work. Far better to have a grown up conversation about which tracks produce the best racing and use them. For example, if you're insisting on using a Swedish track, it simply has to be Vastervik, in my opinion the only one that consistently can produce exciting racing. In the UK, it has to be the National Stadium. To increase the attendance, it would make far better economic business sense to spend a few hundred thousands on temporary stands, than the outrageous costs of laying a temporary track for a week, and all the associated costs with that. Yes, the attendance will still be lower, but how much better would it be to have a packed stadium at Manchester, with fans salivating for more and going away happy, rather than the farcical situations we had last year at Cardiff? After spending some money improving the track in Prague, I'd give it a stay of execution as it was much better this year than previously. Otherwise, get Pardubice to host a Czech GP, as it's a great racing track and already has a proven track record of successful Golden Helmet weekends for donkeys years. In Poland, you'd have to be looking at Wroclaw, Bydgoszcz, Leszno, Czestochowa and Torun. Perhaps even some other 1 Liga tracks too, such as Ostrow and Rybnik, which, if prepared well, can produce fantastic racing. Lodz has a brilliant stadium and a super wee track that could produce an outstanding atmosphere and GP. If you are insisting on using Germany, I'd nominate Wittstock as the only possible candidate for a GP. The track is fantastic, with multiple lines and it's incredibly wide. A GP there could be fabulous. Yes, the stadium is basic, but again, the massive sums saved from creating temporary tracks could be put to good use to utilise this place properly and put in some temporary stands. If Poland ended up with half a dozen GPs, or more, well, why not? It already has the best tracks, the cities are beautifully clean, cheap to visit and attractive. We have to play to the strengths of the sport, instead of pretending we can achieve worldwide coverage and spend tens of millions trying to expand it which if we are able to think with our heads rather than our hearts, we all know will simply never be achieved.

VK links for Torun v Czestochowa: https://vk.com/video-53550004_456241350

Another VK: https://vk.com/video-81427162_456239534